Drive to race at Bathurst in 2014

We?re gearing up to take on Mount Panorama in a tiny Abarth 500, setting up the ultimate David versus Goliath battle.

11 November 2013Toby Hagon

The Fiat Abarth 695 Assetto Corse, which will take on the mountain in next year's Bathurst 12-hour. Photo:

The Fiat Abarth 695 Assetto Corse, which will take on the mountain in next year's Bathurst 12-hour. Photo:

The Fiat Abarth 695 Assetto Corse, which will take on the mountain in next year's Bathurst 12-hour. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive's Toby Hagon, professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair will be racing in the 2014 Bathurst 12-hour in an Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. Photo:

Drive is heading to Bathurst to race in the 2014 12-Hour endurance race next February.

I?ll be one of the drivers in a two-car entry from the Australian arm of the Fiat Chrysler Group.

But our team of eight ? including professional drivers Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell as well as three other motoring writers, Joshua Dowling, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair - won?t be muscling up in a V8-powered SRT8, but instead challenging ourselves in the smallest car in the field, a tiny Fiat 500-based Abarth.

With the exception of a lone rotary-powered Mazda, the Fiat has by far the smallest engine of any of the contenders, at just 1.4 litres.

But it?s helped with the addition of a turbocharger and a lightweight 940kg body that includes plastic side windows and a minimalist interior.

Based on the roadgoing Abarth 500 Essesse our Assetto Corse versions are direct from the factory as fully prepared race cars (they?re used in a one-make race series in Europe).

That includes a roll cage, more powerful engine designed to run on 102-octane racing fuel, stiffer race suspension, adjustable race brakes and a six-speed sequential racing gearbox.

Fiat has imported three of the race cars ? two are entered for the race and the third is a spare car ? and they will be run by Alan Heaphy and his team at Performance Parts & Engineering.

Heaphy is no stranger to Bathurst, having guided the Nissan GT-Rs to victory in the early 1990s and run legends such as Wayne Gardner and Craig Lowndes in the V8 Supercar championship.

But the Abarths will still have their work cut out against the might of Mount Panorama ? and the rest of the field.

So far the Bathurst 12-Hour entry list of 50 race-tuned cars consists of a raft of far more powerful and exotic machinery, including a pair of Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGs, four Ferrari 458s, 16 Porsche 911 GT3s, five Audi R8 LMSs, two Lamborghini Gallardos, two Nissan GT-Rs, three BMW M3s, a Chevrolet Corvette, McLaren 12C, an older Mazda RX-7, Subaru WRX and a Lotus Exige. There?s even a locally-produced Ford Falcon GT and a Daytona Coupe, similar to the one racing legend Peter Brock was driving when he was killed in 2006.

There are also various entries based on cars not sold here, including three Seat Leons and three Ford Focuses that bear almost no resemblance to the road cars because they are fitted with V8 engines driving the rear wheels. Organisers will be allowing five more entries by the time of the race, for a total of 55, almost double that of the Bathurst 1000.

Much of the challenge will involve getting the cars on the grid, with a rule whereby all drivers must post a time within 130 per cent of the pole-sitting car setting the bar high.

Some of the lead cars will have upwards of three times the power of our little Abarths. They could post lap times of as low as 2 minutes, 3 seconds (some 6 seconds faster than the V8 Supercars in October?s Bathurst 1000), which means our diminutive Abarths will have to lap the 6.2-kilometre circuit in less than 2 minutes, 40 seconds, which translates to an average speed of 140km/h.

Given the tiny Fiat 500 on which our car is based is a city hatchback designed more for cramped Italian streets it?s certainly a big challenge.

But a recent shakedown of the trio of race-ready Abarth Assetto Corse at the fast and flowing Phillip Island track gave us some early confidence.

Short gearing and a brilliant little six-speed sequential gearbox ensure punchy acceleration out of tighter corners, and the engine is a willing little number with impressive mid-rev torque.

And while the Abarths can feel twitchy in corners ? something Heaphy is confident can be tamed with more testing and development - they?re surprisingly fast and great under brakes, albeit with a top speed that feels like it won?t go much past 230km/h.

The mostly wet test day wasn?t without incident, though, with one car succumbing to a minor altercation with a tyre barrier; a new radiator ? taken straight from an Abarth road car ? and it was soon back out on the track.

So while it?s fair to say we have a big challenge ahead, we?re confident the cars can deliver on the performance.

And Heaphy?s PPE team has plenty of development work still to go - using input from Youlden and Stokell ? something they?re confident will yield even faster times.

The first challenge, though, is getting to the start grid. Over the past few months I?ve been busy re-applying for my CAMS motorsport licence.

Getting a provisional racing licence involves a flag marshalling course (so you understand what the various flags mean), driving evaluation and a theoretical test that tests your knowledge of the various rules and regulations around motorsport. But the only way to get the full licence necessary for racing at Bathurst is to take part in three race meetings. Two down, one to go...

I?ll keep you updated on our road to Bathurst over the coming months as well as live reports from the race itself, which takes place from February 7 to 9.

Drive?s Bathurst race car: Abarth 695 Assetto Corse

Engine: 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo

Power: 151kW at 6500rpm

Torque: 300Nm at 4000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed Sadev sequential gearbox

Wheels: Painted and forged 17-inch OZ Racing

Tyres: Michelin

Weight: 940kg

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The size of your tyre is located on the sidewall of your tyre.It will be similar to the sample below.